


The Gift

by valda



Series: The Deaths of Supreme Leader Snoke [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Allergic reaction, Asphyxiation, Character Death, M/M, mention of harm to animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-07 20:11:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12848625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valda/pseuds/valda
Summary: After Kylo Ren gifts Armitage Hux with a pet cat, Armitage beseeches Supreme Leader Snoke to allow an exception to the "no animals on First Order ships" rule. The meeting does not go as he expected.





	The Gift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lisalicious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisalicious/gifts).



> Originally posted on Tumblr [here](http://cosleia.tumblr.com/post/167784871678/snoke-death-prompt-allergic-reaction-to-millicent) in response to two Tumblr prompts. delisalicious asked: Snoke Death prompt: Allergic reaction to Millicent / thursdayhux asked: Death from an allergy — more specifically, an allergy to cats ;)

Armitage was, understandably, nervous. Pets were not allowed on First Order vessels as a rule. This was a military force, not a colony fleet, and animals added unnecessary complications to their streamlined operations.

But.

He gazed down at the cat in his arms. She looked back up at him with piercing, bright green eyes, and he was stroking her ginger fur almost before he realized it. She was a queen. She was beautiful, she was clever, and her presence helped Armitage relax.

(Kylo Ren had brought her back from a raid, said she reminded him of Armitage, smiled when Armitage named her Millicent—but that wasn’t what was important here.)

He had to keep her. He had to convince Supreme Leader Snoke to let him keep her.

A holomeeting would not do for such an important request. Armitage had taken a shuttle to the  _Supremacy_  as soon as it would not risk a mission to do so. He would show Supreme Leader the cat in person, let him see how perfect she was, how she wouldn’t get in the way, how Armitage’s productivity had increased 12% since she came into his life…

“Enter,” came Supreme Leader’s booming voice through the door console, and the hatch swung wide to admit Armitage into the throne room.

“Thank you for seeing me, Supreme Leader,” Armitage said, striding across the massive room and coming to a stop at the foot of the throne. “I come to you with a rather unorthodox request.”

“What,” Leader Snoke rasped, gesturing at Millicent, “is  _that_.”

“She’s a cat, Supreme Leader. A–a pet, if you’ll allow it.”

“I know you know every last regulation, General,” Snoke said.

“Yes, Supreme Leader.”

“It seems strange to me that you would seek an exception. I’d thought you a man of order.”

Armitage swallowed. “I am, Supreme Leader. The cat—Millicent—is a help to me, she assists me in ordering my mind—”

“Enough,” Snoke growled. “Enough of this foolishness. Give the cat to me. I have yet to dine this evening.”

Armitage’s guts went cold. “Supreme Leader?” he said, hoping he’d misheard.

“Give. Me. The. Cat,” Snoke said, and he held out a hand.

The praetorian guard were all around him. There were probably security holocameras recording him. There was no way he could disobey. Not and remain with the First Order.

Armitage’s eyes burned and his stomach roiled. He clutched Millicent a little too tightly and forced himself to move forward. A few short, trembling steps, and he was close enough for Supreme Leader to reach out and snatch her away.

“Yes, this will do nicely,” Leader Snoke said, holding Millicent close to his face and inspecting her. “I—”

He broke off suddenly. He was coughing, or gagging, or  _something_ , Armitage wasn’t sure. He was grasping at his own throat, he dropped Millicent, he fell back on his throne, he was making a wet, choked sound—

Armitage stared as Snoke spasmed where he sat, as Snoke’s lips slowly turned blue, as the tinge spread to the rest of his face and bursts of red blossomed in his eyes, as he flailed like a child, hands smacking and scrabbling at the armrests of the throne—and then, with one final, sickening gurgle, Supreme Leader Snoke went utterly still.

~

There was an official inquiry, of course. The praetorian guard didn’t much care; their master was dead, and Snoke had not named a successor, so they vanished soon after the incident…but for the sake of the rest of the Order, to maintain confidence in the rule of law, High Command investigated what had happened. It was quickly determined that Leader Snoke was highly allergic to cats, and that Armitage had had no idea. The case was closed, and, as Armitage and Kylo Ren were Snoke’s trusted lieutenants, the rest of the Order fell in line behind them.

“‘Supreme Leader’ always struck me as an odd title,” Kylo said, stretched out across Armitage’s bed, running his hand down Millicent’s back over and over. “Someone’s bound to ask, ‘What makes him supreme?’“

“I should think that would be obvious in your case, Ren,” Armitage said fondly. He set aside his datapad and joined Kylo on the bed, heart fluttering. It was hard to believe that he had everything now—everything he’d barely dared dream of.

“I suppose you’re right,” Kylo said thoughtfully. “Aside from my great powers, which eclipsed Snoke’s long ago, there’s also the fact that unlike him, I am not allergic to cats.”

Armitage froze. What seemed like an eternity passed as he lay there on the bed, watching Millicent bat her paw at the air. Then, slowly, he looked up, locking eyes with Kylo. “You—” he began, but didn’t finish.

Kylo winked.


End file.
